It was about 25 minutes into this movie that I first realized one of its most glaring and needless of errors.

It seems in "Enemy at the Gates" world (for the purpose of this review we aren't in the old Soviet Union, oh no this is another planet) everybody who operates on the banks of the Volga isn't from Russia. Instead they seemed to have imported the entire population of England into the place and instead of the harsh tone's of Russian accent regaling my eardrums I instead was serenaded with a wide variety of vocies from the Queens country.

Londoner, Midland,s one or two people bordering on Cornish at one point, hell I was amazed that I didn't have a General appear speaking in the aggressive lint of Geordie it was so absurd.

And accents aren't the only thing imported from England. For example the main child character runs around proceedings like a bad Charles Dickens knock-off

Shine Your Shoe's Govner?
That Vassili Zaitsev is my Hero!!! (Imagine this said in the most faux Dickens way imaginable)
I'm a mit cold I am!!!!

And so the linguistic massacre rumbles on, don't even get me started on Rachel Weisz the women sounds less English in The Mummy then this movie.

Ok I'm getting a tad off base here lets focus on the film itself i.e. the story the structure.

The story itself isn't to bad, Crack Soviet Sniper becomes Communist propaganda tool, Nazi send in crack German counterpart to eliminate him, game of cat and mouse ensues. You can tack on the Hollywood required love triangle between Jude Law's Sniper, Rachel Weisz's Russian Soldier and Joseph Fiennes Commissar if you want (really thou in war the time for sex can be hard to find, i'd call it more a desperate attempt by the characters to avoid going 6 months without intimate relations) In character terms Ed Harris as the cool calculating German Sniper (looking like the Red Baron's cousin without the novelty mustache) is one of the more consistent bright spots, althou his habit of going to battle in full formal outfit is a tad inaccurate.

But this movie patently has trouble using this potentially juicy step-up to its maximum effect. There is a 20 minute section in the middle where the Sniper cat and mouse game does reach enjoyable levels before we are pulled back into more boring diatribes on Communism and ideology, with Bob Hoskins chewing scenery as a pantomime version of Nikita Khrushchev. This is incredibly frustrating to endure. Enemy at the Gates is a film that clearly wants to make some sort to grand statement on the effects of the Press on morale in wartime but its completely ill equipped to do so.

If it had stuck to the action and removed the awful accent massacre it would have hit the spot, as it is this is another botch job from the world of War Hollywood style.

C

Would it really be realistic that Russian soldiers would be speaking English with Russian accents? No, they'd be speaking Russian. I remembering watching a 'making of' this film, and the director talking about why he chose for the cast to keep their regular accents - his reasons was that it wouldn't be realistic for them to have Russian accents, because they shouldn't even be speaking English, so why add the accents in? Not sure if that makes sense...

Anyway, I like this flick, it's not perfect but it's very well-made. I haven't watched it in a while, I might get around to it this weekend since I just wrote a paper on the battle of Stalingrad.

Thanks Trix this confirms my belief that the director deserves a slap.

Must ask Neb's to post a thread for Come and See in a bit, that movie rains on this from a height.

But why? You'd rather have the Russians speaking English with Russian accents? It doesn't make sense!

Anyway, it's no reason to drop a film's grade so much. It pissed me off to no end in The Hunt for Red October that the Soviets were speaking English with Russian accents to each other (not to the Americans, that part I can buy) but I still love that movie.

Sure it does, Imagine everyone in Michael Collin's speaking with American accents it would be the laziest option anybody could take. (Red October I'd forgive Connery since the man never changes his accent) I'd still give the movie a C thou because like I said its piss-poor overall compared to movies like Come and See or The Big Red One.

A


Loved it, very entertaining, but also a good drama. Great job by Jude Law.

I also gotta agree with Trixster about the accents thing. The thing is, it is stupid to have Russians speak English in first place, so that says it all. Once they speak English it doesn't matter what accent they speak it with. Russians would not speak English. Neither the British one, nor one with Russian accent. Russian accent wouldn't add anything to it.

But its the laziness of it, this film had a stellar budget and it was Hollywood so it was guaranteed to use English as the first language, but to use such colloquial accents was so lazy. Its as stupid as Alexander where everyone sounds like their from the Westside of Dublin.

Sigh, I'll bet you'd have issues if they were all speaking with West of Ireland Bogger accents

Funnily the whole accent thing didn't affect my grade but it annoyed me so much i had to write about it.

I saw it dubbed, I wouldn't have any issues to begin with. : )

Damnit, outflanked

But they speak English in Ireland... don't they?

Russians talking to other Russians wouldn't speak English with a British accent, but they wouldn't speak English with a Russian accent. Since they're not having them speak Russian, what difference does the accent make? It makes no sense to have Russians speak English with a Russian accent.

Entertaining, gripping. Great cast. I like it a lot.

If we got hung up on accents as a make it or break it proposition, there are very few movies that would pass.

And hell, better that there's no accents than goofy ones.

Well where i live Gaelic is the predominant language , but i jest yes English is spoken as well.

I still disagree about the accent thing thou, it's like a person looking at a job they have to do and deciding because they can't do it fully (right language, right accent) they won't bother doing any of it. Its lazy in my opinion, I wouldn't tolerant it in any other sphere if life why should I here. Damnit if Rachel Weisz is getting paid a million she should be made work for it

Anyways why are we arguing about this it didn't affect my grade it just annoyed me, tell you what Trix i'll drop the accent complaint if you seek out a copy of "Come and See" to watch since i think i'm probably the only KJ'er to have seen it and its a film that deserves a bigger audience

Ah bollock's, if yoshue liked i'm really up shit creek without a paddle.

Well, I was under the impression that you lowered your grade because of the accents. But oh well...

Yeah, I'll look for a copy of it.

Heh, I like the argument that Gulli and I had. I still haven't watched the movie he recommended, but I did just watch this one.

One of the few Hollywood films on the Second World War that completely ignores the input that the Americans and British had and chooses to focus on the Eastern front. If only for that reason, it's a refreshing change of pace. But the concentration on the cat-and-mouse game rather than the broad political strategies makes it even moreso. Jude Law is fine and Ed Harris is great as the two snipers, and the action scenes are thrilling. Granted, the love story is rather silly, but it sets up a rather terrific climax. Add in great cinematography, terrific effects, and solid characters, and you've got a pretty great war flick. No matter what the accents are.

i really enjoyed it

b+

Hmmmm.........no I won't kick it up again.